s0mnambulist
Lurker

I've had a number of lucid dreams throughout my life and childhood that I can vaguely remember but there are some that stand out more than others. Most recently was a bout of extremely closely placed lucid dreams over the course of about 3 months. 4 of which I remember very vividly. I'm not sure what was going on in my waking life at the time that made me more lucid while dreaming but hopefully I will be able to track down the answers as I try to regain this ability.
Throughout this period I gained lucid control progressively. Beginning with simple flight as I was panicking while falling from an airplane. Moving on to a more controlled lucid flight, though also triggered by the panic of being chased by a gang. Finally I was able to trigger my lucid abilities simply by stopping and taking detailed note of my surroundings, leaving behind the previous urgency of narrative in the dream. Turning my head around to examine features of my environment like architecture and textures seems to snap me into a controlled lucid state most of the time.
I have encountered entities that seem to want to pull me out of this state however. Sometimes they try to distract or pull me back into the original task.



The Man in the Hat.

I am very excited to share this dream as I believe it is the most important lucid dream I have had so far.
Once again, in this dream I became lucid by my own will without panic, simply by breaking free of the narrative the dreamworld had imposed on me. I began by looking up. Large panes of glass high above revealed bright blue skies and clouds beyond the ceiling. And to the left. A long single-file line of people that I had just been a part of, but was now apart from, slowly shuffling off around a corner. To the right. Beautiful blue mosaics of glass tiles lie beneath a shallow pool of running water, sparkling as they are lit by atmospheric skyskapes from beyond giant walls of clear glass. Many Aimless wanderers mill about and around the pool, some standing still in the water and some dragging their bare feet with no expression. Then down, I turned my attention towards the beautiful glass tiles beneath my feet. I noted their texture on my bare skin and stooped to examine the white grout between tiles.
When I stood up I was fully lucid. With no delay I immediately began to exercise my powers. I already knew I could fly if I wanted to so I decided to try something different this time. One of the Aimless was walking slowly in a straight line away from the pool area. I willed her to change direction and she immediately obeyed, making an about-turn without resistance or even recognition that she had done so. What else could I do? Could I make these people more physically attractive? They were all so dull. Could I make them take off all their clothes and walk around naked? No on both accounts. Perhaps they didnt realize who I was and how much control I possessed over them. A show of power seemed necessary. I walked up to a man and willed him to stand still. He obeyed and I levitated in front of him 8 feet above the ground. He looked up at me but with no expression. More as a joke to myself, I told him in a casual voice, "I am your god. This is my world. I can control you." No reaction still. I did this to four or five other subjects with the same results.
Now this is the interesting part. Over near the edge of the pool was a man in a tailored suit and brimmed hat I hadn't noticed before. He was reclined lazily in a chair reading a large manuscript much like a newspaper, his leather shoes propped up atop a short plaster wall. I couldnt see his face beneath the brim of the hat. I moved over to him and levitated, passively repeating the same words I had to the others. "I can control you. I am your master." He ignored me and I repeated it again. He spoke without looking up. "This is not your world. It is simply a product of the random firings of your brain. You don't have control here." I argued with him trying to force my will on him and make him get up or at least look at me. He spoke again without looking up. "Look around you. Do you recognize anything?" I looked around the room and saw a shade-less lamp on a glass shelf that I hadnt noticed before. I recognized it as a lamp I have in my house back in the waking world. As soon as I recognized it, I was immediately banished from the dream. There was absolutely no break in my consciousness between lucid dreaming and waking. I was simply awake in my bed instead of awake in the dream.

In most of my lucid dreams I feel like there is some sort of force keeping my powers in check. As if there are lines I cannot cross or actions that are not allowed. I wonder now if the enclosed glass room in this dream was meant to keep me from flying freely as I have in other lucid dreams. I have had a sense too that some of the people I encounter in lucid dreams are more like Enforcers that I have little to no power over, while others are more like part of the ambiance, the Aimless fillers that hardly notice me. I've never had someone eject me from the dreamworld the way the Man in the Hat did though. Is the dreamworld really another realm with its own laws and rules? Or is it simply a product of random memory sequences held together by a loose narrative as the Man in the Hat told me? What does it mean to break that narrative and begin acting on our own volition? Regardless, I will keep pushing the boundaries and I will definitely be looking for the suited Man in the Hat.